The present invention relates to a battery-powered electrical device, and more particularly to such a device which is characterized by alternative battery power supplies.
Stores which sell battery-powered electrical devices must either expend the money and effort required to obtain and place batteries in the device specimens to be displayed or risk losing sales because the prospective customer cannot see the device in action and thus cannot fully appreciate it. Accordingly, many stores expend the requisite effort and money to place batteries in the designated user-accessible battery compartment before putting a device on display. Even this does not completely solve the problem since on occasion the person handling the device is less interested in the operation of the device than he is in acquiring batteries free of charge simply by removing them from the user-accessible compartment.
While the store might prefer to use relatively inexpensive button-cell batteries rather than the conventional cylindrical batteries, such button-cell batteries are typically relatively short-lived where the device has a relatively high power drain or is used extensively. Furthermore, the button-cell batteries because of their small size, when present in a user-accessible compartment, present a danger to children who may remove and swallow them (either in the store or at home) and thus are a potential legal liability for both the manufacturer and the seller of the device using the button-cell batteries. Accordingly, many electrical devices are simply not manufactured to be powered by button-cell batteries.
In addition to the differences in expense, power and the like, a critical difference between button-cell and cylindrical batteries is that the former fail, and the latter pass, a standard choke chamber test designed to distinguish between those objects which present a threat when swallowed and those which do not. Even the relatively small AA or AAA cylindrical batteries pass the choke chamber test, while button-cell batteries typically do not.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical device with alternative battery power supplies so that the retail seller thereof avoids the effort and expense of installing a cylindrical battery supply while still obtaining the benefit of an operable electrical device for display purposes.
Another object is to provide such a device wherein the power supply cannot be removed from demonstration models.
A further object is to provide such a device providing a user-accessible compartment into which the user can insert and replace cylindrical batteries as necessary.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a device which can be powered for demonstration purposes and still pass a choke chamber test since there are no user-accessible button-cell batteries.
It is a further object to provide such a device which is simple and economical to manufacture, maintain and use.